The feds and a prosecutor say a Houston company selling synthetic drugs on the Internet is responsible for the deaths of teenagers in Minnesota and North Dakota.

The deaths in North Dakota and Minnesota demanded the investigative efforts not just of state authorities, but of Homeland Security.

And while state investigators traced the drugs back to a Grand Forks, North Dakota, drug dealer and self-styled "hobby chemist" named Andrew Spofford, the U.S. Attorney's Office received a call from Houston: Motion Research co-founder Harry Mickelis wanted to talk.

That's what Homeland Security agent Jim Grube testified in Carlton's December 2012 detention hearing. Of course, Mickelis was never mentioned by name — nor has his name been reported in the media . It's one of the perks of being a snitch. (Although Mickelis apparently wanted to talk to authorities, he didn't want to talk to the Press; he didn't respond to requests for comment sent via Facebook, and he removed his profile shortly after we contacted him.)

Christian Bjerk, 18, of North Dakota, died after ingesting drugs originally purchased from Motion Research.

Charles Carlton appears to have written under the name "Sandman" about his company's drugs on online forums.

Among the spectators at the December hearing was a woman with a strong interest in Polinski's fate: his girlfriend, Mattingly.

Mattingly saw Polinski as a guy who might have made a dumb decision but one borne of financial desperation and whose role in the company was purely technical. She wondered how Polinski could face life behind bars when one of the men who had actually started the company, Mickelis, got to walk.

"Anyone in the room that knew anything about Motion, really, could figure it out," she says. "And it, God, took everything in me to bite my tongue..."

According to Grube, after the "cooperator" heard about the deaths and the arrest of Spofford, he went through Motion's records and discovered that Spofford had been a customer. This spooked him so much that he removed four hard drives from the office "in an effort to preserve evidence" and called his attorney. (Representatives of both Homeland Security's Houston office and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Fargo, North Dakota, declined to comment for this story.)

Grube testified that Spofford subsequently admitted to being a customer. Now they had two people pointing to Motion Research. In August 2012, agents executed search warrants at Carlton's Katy home, Motion Research's office and a UPS store post office box linked to the company.

At the Motion Research office, Grube testified, agents found drugs, international wire transfer records, invoices and a black briefcase containing a journal kept by Carlton that detailed his various experiences with a chemical called 4-ACODMT.

To Mattingly, it seemed, investigators were suggesting that Polinski and Carlton knew Spofford personally. According to Mattingly, however, the opposite was true. The first time they heard of the deaths in North Dakota and Minnesota, she says, was on a TV news ­program.

"They were devastated that it was linked to their product and that it was so grossly misused," she says. "When it comes down to it, they didn't have any way of knowing — the whole process was taken out of their hands the moment that product left the door."

It was shortly thereafter, Mattingly says, that "George [Mickelis] started acting differently. Started to get really flaky. Started to accuse Charles of doing business behind their backs...[He] kept changing phone numbers, kept changing his phones — it was really hard to get ahold of him."

For Debbie Bjerk, though, whose son had overdosed on drugs that came from Motion Research, Polinski was just as culpable as Carlton or the kid who provided the drugs at the party her son attended the night he died.

Even though the hit that killed her son Christian came from a batch stolen from the drug dealer's house, Bjerk says, "Without that company in Houston, my son would be alive today."

When asked how she felt about the company's co-founder escaping criminal charges in her son's death, she says, "I think anybody in that company that certainly knew what was going on and didn't...and went along with it and did nothing, they'll have to answer to their maker some day for their role in this. They should all be charged if they willingly did this and they knew that it was to be used for consumption of drugs."

Christian Bjerk's death has turned his mother into something of a crusader. She testified before her state's legislators about the need for a broader law encompassing all analogs. Such drugs are especially dangerous, she says, because they're described online as "synthetic," luring teens and young adults into a false sense of security — a belief that somehow the substances are safer than their "pure" counterparts. To her, nothing could be further from the truth.

"There are so many different strengths; there's never been any testing done on humans with these drugs," she says. "It's like playing Russian roulette."
_____________________

Carlton and Polinski are facing the possibility of life in prison. They also owe the government $385,000 — the amount prosecutors say Motion Research cleared in its lifetime.

Mickelis, for now, is scot-free. Before he left Carlton and Polinski holding the bag, Mattingly says, he nearly cleaned out the company's account. Grube, the Homeland Security agent, testified that Motion Research had only a few thousand when it was raided.

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Purveyors and Pimps of RCs who think they've outsmarted the law and that the Federal A.S.A doesn't apply to them should become prison pen pals with some of the fools who thought the same thing -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Web_Tryp

I feel bad for the people that died and especially there family's. But if these stupid idiots did some research first they would still be here. Is this the land of the free, I really dont think it is anymore. We live in a police state, with a corrupt government that whats nothing more to control every aspect of our lives. Fuck the police, fuck the government. I cant wait for the anarchist revolution to start. We need to take these scumbags out of office. They are ruining our country.

The
real thing that should concern all is this: "[under the] Federal Analog
Act [which] became law in 1986, dealers of analog drugs — substances
that bear chemical makeups substantially similar to those of old
favorites like meth, cocaine and LSD — have sidestepped prosecution by
selling drugs whose molecular construction has been tweaked enough to
create something technically new..." this is INACCURATE
because the law references EFFECTS of drugs rather that their chemical
composition. What the analog act does is criminalize chemically altered
states of consciousness. ANY chemical that makes you feel euphoric is
defacto an analog and therefor illegal. It outlaws the psychedelic
experience.

Sooooo the dudes BROKE INTO SOMEONES HOUSE and stole this mystery powder that they had NO IDEA what it was....DUMPED AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT in come chocolate and then ate it and were surprised they OD'd??? Then some dude throws out a massive line of the stuff thinking its coke or something?? Sounds like negligence of not the distributors of the chemical but the CRIMINALS who commited a robbery to obtain it instead of doing the research on it before throwing it down their throats. This is a tragedy no doubt BUT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF THOSE GUYS WERE SMART.

Everyone is born dying. Some will rush that end no matter what others attempt to educate them. Users buy illegal drugs that are produced by underground system. Dealers very often feed their own addiction by reselling "cut" drugs. Anything can be mixed into your weed,coke, heroin or whatever. The sicker it makes you, the better the dealer. Self suicidals (aka dopers) shot horse tranquilizers, inhale freon, hotshot compressed air, choke themselves while masturbating. Inhale glue, nail polish remover, paints, hair spray, and lighter fuel.Cocaine, heroin, meth khat, ghb, Ecstasy . List never ends. Outlaw a drug & dealers change salt base to get around law. Every time some condemned- to- OD user dies, other users scream "this is why they should legalize all drugs". The mommys push to punish dealers like their Sweety children didn't choose to pollute their body with everything in hands reach. Not counting the damage that legal drugs already cause. Alcohol & prescription drugs are their own cluster f nuke strike. Want to help modern world? Dealers get instant bullet in head after conviction (like Chinese). Users get three strikes & then same bullet. Why continue wasting resources on those that would eat dog excrement if they thought it would make them dizzy? Wasted worthless births.

Kudos for writing an article that is relatively free of the fictional media hype that is common in many "bath salt" articles. It seems apparent that you have done some serious delving into the internet sub-culture that has grown around the online distribution of psycho actives substances.

It might be obvious that many people who are interested in this investigation are in fact connected to the "research chemical" scene in some way. I have frequented these sites for over a decade and in my opinion, they are both frightening and intriguing places.

On one hand, this is the bleeding edge of illicit drug use. Whatever disclaimers people may use or code they may speak in, I will call it as it is. On these sites, one can certainly see an evolving side of the recreational drug user. In general, those who use these sites are somewhat more educated and aware of the implications of their actions. Many posses a rudimentary knowledge of pharmacology and chemistry that is far beyond that of the average "junky".

On the other hand, the rate at which new compounds are being marketed and pushed on human guinea pigs is terrifying. The level of knowledge maybe greater in this sub-culture, but ignorance and misinformation are rampant. I have a MS. in biochemistry; I am by no means an expert in any fields related to the the chemicals being offered on these sites, but I do know enough that I cringe a bit when I see some of the things that people are selling.

I apologize for the long winded post. Articles like yours, albeit usually more sensationalized, are becoming more and more common as the use of grey area chemicals grows larger. Injury and death are inevitable consequences of the unstudied pharmacological profiles of these chemicals, as well as they non-existent standards of quality.

I hope your readers will consider that ineffective drug legislation is exactly what has created this situation. Legal loopholes and draconian prosecution of even "soft" drugs are the greatest factors that make grey area chemicals an attractive prospect to drug users.

Thank you again for the article. I will certainly be following this case and it will be interesting to see what sort of action is taken on a state and perhaps even national level.

"The story you are reading will no doubt be parsed to shreds on these
forums faster than you can say "4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethytriptamine."

FYI, you spelled tryptamine wrong. I know, I know, spell check has problems with many of these long chemical names but given the context of your typographical error, it makes for a sweet tasty load of ironic justice. I almost hurt myself laughing so hard. If your going to try to make a point like that, you might want to thoroughly check your spelling.

I love that you used a naturally occurring tryptamine as an example when making a point involving synthetic chemicals. 4-hydroxy-N,N- dimethyltryptamine turns out to be Psilocin , the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, far from synthetic or designer, far from new, far from dangerous and very illegal I might add. More irony, just saying...

PPl like this should be taken off the street. The "rat" probably saved the lives of countless kids that had no idea what they had purchased. He probably saved the life of one of your friends kids if not yours. Stitchgiver get a clue.

Oh and I love how this article is judge and jury. What is up with that.

My name is Ruth Rivas and my son, Adam, passed away last year in June because he had been smoking spice. I have now made it my life mission to educate others about the dangers of spice. I have created a website, www.spiceisnotnice.org I highly recommend you view it and please share with others. I have made presentations to the Mother/Daughter conference at my school district, parent and students meetings, drug rehab centers, a naval base in Florida, Fort Bliss in El Paso (3 X's) and will be travelling to Fort Hood on the 28th to present to them as well. Please share my message.

Honestly, I couldn't agree more. Is anyone stupid enough to believe that making these research chemicals illegal will cause less people to misuse them? It will be just like the rest of drug prohibition (or alcohol prohibition in the 20s), where addiction rates remain the same or even rise. This country needs to adopt policies of harm prevention, and not blanket prohibition or else this same shit is going to keep happening. Seriously, this damn country needs to give people sovereignty over their bodies and stop reading drug dealers (and online vendors) as terrorists. I don't think Carlton killed these kids, prohibition killed them.

1. 'substantially similar chemical structure'and either
2. have effects similar to substance in Schedule I or IIor3. someone represents it as having the effect of a controlled substance

This
means that a substance could make you "high" or "trip" or cause
"euphoria" and be completely legal as long as it's chemical structure
isn't substantially similar to a controlled substance. It also means
that it can have a substantially similar chemical structure to a
controlled substance and not cause substantially similar effects and it
would, again, be completely legal. It MUST FIRST BE substantially
similar in chemical structure, then you go 2 and/or 3 from there.

If the substance is not sold for consumption then it exempt from all of the above.

The
one thing the law isn't clear about is what substantially similar
really means, nobody really knows and they give no definition. Ask a
chemist and then a lawyer and then a DEA agent, you will receive three
different answers.

The full law;

Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"(32)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term `controlled substance analogue' means a substance ---

"(i) the chemical structure of which is substantially similar to
the chemical structure of a controlled substance in schedule I or II;
"(ii) which has a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect
on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or
greater
than the stimulent, [sic] depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on
the central nervous system of a controlled substance in schedule I or
II; or
"(iii) with respect to a particular person, which such person
represents or intends to have a stimulant, depressant, or
hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is
substantially similar to or greater than the stimulant, depressant, or
hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system of a
controlled substance in schedule I or II.

"(B) Such term does not include ---
"(i) a controlled substance;
"(ii) any substance for which there is an approved new drug application;
"(iii) with respect to a particular person any substance, if an
exemption is in effect for investigational use, for that person, under
section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
355) to the extent conduct with respect to such substance is pursuant
to such exemption; or
"(iv) any substance to the extent not intended for human
consumption before such an exemption takes effect with respect to that
substance.".

You're an idiot. You proclaim cutting costs and killing dealers and users. Wouldn't it be way cheaper (and also not violate people's sovereignty over their bodies) to just legalise drugs, but provide information to keep responsible users safe? The dumb ones who have no regard for their bodies will die and not be a drain on the system, and the responsible ones will actually be able to live in a free country.

I agree with much of what you said (especially about this article not being sensational like the bath salts debacle). Given what you said about new drugs always being created to side step laws, don't you think that drug use is something that humans instinctively do (perhaps on the level of eating and sex). Wouldn't legalizing drugs, but providing information to make use safe for responsible people being the best policy? I mean otherwise the government keeps making more drugs illegal (which by the way, doesn't really deter use) allowing avenues for chemists to make money with new research chemicals that are not understood all that well.

what kind of parent would I be to let my brain dead son who was having one siezer after another stay on life support when he was already gone? You are an idiot >>> And lets make it clear My son was murdered. He had no idea what he was given. People like you have no heart and who in the right mind would ever say something like that about grieving parents. SHAME ON YOU...

Intoxication is a basic human drive. There will always be a new thing on the street. You little this, some new chemical with an entirely different structure his the street in 6 months. You can't legislate morality. The best thing our government could do is legalise drugs, but provide safe avenues to get untainted drugs and provide other harm reduction services. Putting people in prison for exploring their minds means criminalizing human nature. Prohibition has done nothing to reduce drug use; so you really expect that to change?

@kingsford While I agree that the rat probably slowed things down, a long term solution needs to be considered if we really want to get a grip on our children, before someone in another state starts whispering in their ear.

@craig.malisow, you need to consider how much you threaten our children with this article as well. I appreciate your overall message, but providing people with links is like signing their death sentence.

If Carlton and Polinski can be held guilty for someone's crime going bad, then you should be held guilty for every single naive child you just navigated. Especially when young children think they are invincible. "It won't happen to me."

Either you didn't completely read the article or you have trouble with reading comprehension. It appears this company sold pure chemicals with MSDSs (material safety data sheets). Their customers knew exactly what they were getting. Now, if someone breaks into one of their customers homes and steals something, not only is the perpetrator lucky they weren't killed on the spot for burglary, they chose to use their ill gotten gains in a manor that caused their deaths.

If someone breaks into your house and steals a gun and kills a couple people with it, is the gun store you bought the gun from liable? Before you say that's a stupid argument, think about how ethical the gun industry is. Everyone involved in gun sales and manufacture and distribution undoubtedly KNOWS that some of their products WILL be misused. They still sell these extremely dangerously products on every corner though. They are used for killing people right?

Secondly, The "rat" in question obviously cooperated to save his own skin, he didn't care about the questionable ethics of this business or he wouldn't have co-founded it in the first place.

Use your brains people and don't jump on the sensationalism bandwagon.

@kingsford you've got to be joking. The only crime here was committed by the dealer, especially for not having his chemicals secured properly in a lab setting. The vendor in question did NOTHING wrong.

You know, if the government hadn't made cannabis (which is virtually harmless by the way) so called synthetic cannabis possibly would not have been created and definitely wouldn't have risen to the level of popularity it did.

Well... touche, to a minor degree. I happened upon one of the top ten most common misspelled words. Like you're misspelling, spell check was completely impotent to assist me.

On the other hand, my typographical error, unlike yours, had nothing to do with the context of the of the point I was trying to make. I think you are overlooking the gravity of the statement surrounding your error. You just gave the people that will be trashing your statements ammunition to do so. Did that escape you?

Also, I'm not the least bit annoyed by your correction. I don't write for a living and I appreciate criticism when it is beneficial to the task at hand.

You have a point. For all you law breakers out there, not only did Craig point out what chemical makes you trip, he pretty much gave out a source for it and clued us in on availability and prices. Have at it kids. It's pretty cheap too. Considering how potent it is (dose is .5mg) $350 for 25g goes a long way!!! (That equates to 12,500 doses for $350. No need to pull out the calculator)

@ThoughtController@craig.malisow Not to keep beating this dead horse, but I don't think there's any "gravity" in that typo. Look, ThoughtController (as an aside, let me point out how much I love bickering with a person who hides behind a screen name) the story before you is a 4,000-plus word look into a particular federal investigation. I'm sorry if one misspelled word destroys the credibility of the entire piece. The fact that I have not lived up to your rigorous journalistic standards will give me night terrors, I assure you. Again, my hat's off, dude.

Not that it really makes a lot of difference to me, but the fact that you have chosen to home in on the misspelling of a chemical composition in a joke about the likelihood of an online community to nitpick over a bit of esoterica actually supports the forest-for-the-trees point I was trying to (lightheartedly) make.

Don't be offended if I don't reply to whatever witty retort you'll post next. It's just that I can only spend so much time through the looking glass, y'dig?

I would say that almost anyone, let alone kids, teens and those with drug seeking behaviors, outside of this publications reader base, would have a greater chance and be more likely to come across information that would give them the opportunity buy hundreds of different extremely potent chemicals, than they would be to come across this story.

This idea that some how information in and of itself could even be accused of being responsible for a persons death is completely absurd.